In 2026, a fair wedding ang bao in Singapore runs roughly S$50 to S$150 per guest at a void-deck or community-club do, S$120 to S$200 at a restaurant or country club, S$180 to S$280 at a four-star hotel ballroom, and S$280 to S$450 or more at a five-star or iconic venue. The rule behind every one of these numbers is the same: give at least enough to cover the cost of your seat at the banquet, then add a bit on top as a blessing. The fancier the venue and the closer you are to the couple, the higher you go; a weekday lunch sits lower than a Saturday dinner. This guide gives you a tier table, named-hotel benchmarks, and the cost-per-seat maths so you can land on a sensible figure in under a minute, plus the etiquette on plus-ones, not attending, and lucky numbers.
Singapore wedding ang bao is not a random gift. The custom is that your red packet should at least cover what your seat costs the couple, with a little extra as a congratulations. Hotels and restaurants price banquets per table of 10, so your seat has a real dollar value, and that value is what the venue tier is really telling you.
This is why a five-star ballroom commands more than a void-deck reception. It is not snobbery. A table at a luxury hotel in 2026 runs S$2,200 to S$3,500 or more before service charge and GST, which is S$220 to S$350-plus per head on the food alone. A community-club table can be a third of that. The ang bao tracks the plate, not the postcode.
Two adjustments sit on top of the plate cost. Your relationship to the couple pushes the number up (close friends and family give more than colleagues), and the timing nudges it (a Saturday dinner is dearer to host than a weekday lunch, so guests give a touch more). Everything in this guide is the plate-cost baseline plus those two adjustments.
When you do not see your venue in the tables below, you can price your own seat. Hotels and restaurants sell banquets per table of 10, so the per-seat cost is the table price divided by 10. Find the venue's 2026 package price (most publish it, or ask the couple's wedding planner), divide by 10, then add the service charge and GST that the couple actually pays.
Singapore banquet prices are quoted as ++, which means before a 10 percent service charge and 9 percent GST. The GST rate has been 9 percent since 1 January 2024. So a S$2,000++ table is S$2,000, plus 10 percent service charge (S$200), plus 9 percent GST on the S$2,200 subtotal (S$198), giving S$2,398 nett, or about S$240 per seat. That S$240 is your baseline ang bao as a colleague or casual friend; round it up to an auspicious S$248 or S$268 and you are done.
Use this method as a sanity check on any rate list you find online, including this one. If a guide quotes a number far below the venue's published package divided by 10, treat it as out of date. To set your own monthly savings target once you know the date and your likely ang bao spend for the year, a savings goal calculator turns the figure into a per-month number.
Start here if you just want a number. These are per-guest amounts for 2026, sorted by venue type and your relationship to the couple. They already bake in the cover-your-plate principle, so for a colleague you can use the lower end and for a close relative the upper end. If you are unsure which tier your venue sits in, the named-hotel benchmarks in the next section will place it.
Round to a sensible figure once you have your number. Amounts ending in 8 (S$88, S$168, S$288) are seen as auspicious, even numbers are preferred, and the number 4 is avoided because it sounds like the word for death in Mandarin and several dialects. So if the table points you at roughly S$180, S$188 is the natural pick; if it points at S$250, S$268 or S$288 reads better than S$240.
| Venue type | Colleague / acquaintance | Friend | Close friend / relative |
|---|---|---|---|
| Void deck / community club | S$50 to S$80 | S$80 to S$100 | S$100 to S$150 |
| Restaurant / country club | S$100 to S$130 | S$130 to S$160 | S$160 to S$200 |
| 4-star hotel ballroom | S$160 to S$200 | S$200 to S$240 | S$240 to S$280 |
| 5-star hotel ballroom | S$200 to S$280 | S$280 to S$320 | S$320 to S$400+ |
| Iconic / destination venue | S$300 to S$400 | S$380 to S$450 | S$450 to S$550+ |
If you know the exact venue, you can be more precise. The figures below are 2026 per-guest ang bao benchmarks compiled from Singapore wedding-industry rate lists, which track each venue's banquet price. Use these as the baseline for a friend or colleague; add S$50 to S$100 if you are a close friend, and more again for immediate family.
The pattern is what matters more than any single number. Weekend dinners sit at or above weekday lunches for the same venue, and the gap between a mid-range hotel and a top-end ballroom is roughly S$150 per head. A weekday or Sunday-lunch slot at the same hotel often runs S$20 to S$80 lower than its Saturday dinner.
| Venue | Weekday lunch | Weekend dinner |
|---|---|---|
| The Chevrons / community clubs | S$130 to S$150 | S$130 to S$150 |
| Orchid Country Club | S$150 to S$180 | S$170 to S$180 |
| Furama City Centre | S$170 | S$170 to S$180 |
| Carlton Hotel | S$180 to S$240 | S$210 to S$240 |
| Grand Park City Hall | S$190 to S$220 | S$190 to S$220 |
| Goodwood Park Hotel | S$220 | S$240 |
| Grand Hyatt Singapore | S$240 to S$280 | S$280 to S$300 |
| Shangri-La Singapore | S$240 to S$270 | S$270 to S$330 |
| Mandarin Oriental | S$260 | S$280 to S$300 |
| The Fullerton Hotel | S$280 | S$290 to S$300 |
| Marina Bay Sands | S$290 | S$350 |
| The Ritz-Carlton Millenia | S$250 to S$280 | S$290 to S$360 |
| The St. Regis Singapore | S$320 to S$350 | S$350 to S$380 |
| Raffles Hotel Singapore | S$310 to S$340 | S$310 to S$370 |
| Capella Singapore | S$350 to S$430 | S$360 to S$430 |
| Raffles Sentosa | S$400 to S$450 | S$400 to S$450 |
Venues charge a premium for the slots everyone wants. Saturday dinner is the peak, so its table price is the highest, and the ang bao follows. Weekday dinners come down a notch, weekend lunches a notch more, and weekday lunch is usually the cheapest seat in the house. For the same hotel, the spread between a weekday lunch and a Saturday dinner can be S$20 to over S$100 per head.
If you are invited to a Sunday or weekday lunch at a hotel, you are not expected to match the Saturday-dinner rate at that venue. Use the lower benchmark. The couple chose the cheaper slot, often deliberately to save money, and your ang bao can mirror that.
Not every wedding is a 10-course banquet, and the ang bao should follow the format. Buffet, free-flow cocktail and cafe-style receptions cost the couple less per guest than a sit-down dinner, because there is no fixed per-table package and the catering is cheaper per head. For these, a smaller red packet is normal and not seen as stingy. As a rough guide, casual buffet or cocktail receptions sit around S$80 to S$120 a head, and very informal bar or garden affairs can be S$50 to S$80. The same cover-your-plate logic applies; the plate is just cheaper.
Solemnisation-only and registry weddings are different again. If you are invited to the ROM signing, a church ceremony or a tea ceremony but not a paid meal, you are not covering a banquet seat, so a token blessing or a thoughtful gift is the norm rather than a full banquet-rate packet. Around S$50 to S$80 is a common token for a solemnisation you attend without a sit-down dinner. If you go on to the full banquet later the same day or on another date, give the banquet-rate ang bao for that meal instead.
Couples increasingly split the day into a small registry ceremony and a separate banquet, sometimes months apart. You give once, for whichever event involves a meal you are hosted at; you do not pay twice for the same wedding. When in doubt, peg your ang bao to the most expensive hosted meal you attend, and treat any ceremony-only invite as a goodwill gesture. Our cost of a wedding in Singapore guide breaks down where ROM, solemnisation and banquet costs actually land for the couple.
Plate cost sets the floor. Relationship sets how far above the floor you go. A colleague or distant acquaintance can give the baseline rate for the venue and slot, which is socially fine and very common. Good friends usually add around 20 percent or S$50 to S$100 on top of the baseline as a congratulatory gesture.
Work invites have their own logic. A junior colleague or someone you barely know outside the office can give the plain venue baseline without a second thought. For a direct boss or a senior leader inviting you, the polite move is the baseline plus a modest top-up, the way you would for a friend, which reads as respectful without looking like you are buying favour. If a whole team is invited, a shared group ang bao split evenly is acceptable and common, as long as the per-head total still covers each attending seat.
Immediate family and the inner circle give well above the rate, often S$200 to S$500 or more over the baseline, depending on family custom and what you can afford. There is no ceiling here and no obligation to a fixed figure; close family ang bao is as much about the gesture as the cost of the meal.
Nobody should give beyond their means. If the venue baseline is genuinely out of reach, give what you can and do not skip the wedding over it. The couple invited you for your presence, and a heartfelt smaller ang bao is better than declining. If money is tight this year, our note on building a buffer with an emergency fund and the 50/30/20 rule is a saner frame than putting a wedding gift on credit.
The most common mistake is forgetting the plus-one. If you bring a partner or guest, your ang bao covers two seats, so double the per-guest figure. A four-star dinner where you would give S$200 alone becomes about S$400 for a couple. The same applies to your children if they take a seat and a meal at the table.
If you are invited but cannot attend, you still give a smaller ang bao as a blessing, because no seat is being used. For an acquaintance, S$20 to S$80 is fine; for a closer friend, S$80 to S$200 depending on how close you are. Send it before or shortly after the wedding rather than letting it slide.
Tea-ceremony ang bao is a separate tradition and does not replace the banquet packet. During the tea ceremony, elders bless the couple with red packets: grandparents often give S$88 to S$188, parents S$288 to S$888 or more, and aunts, uncles and relatives S$50 to S$288. These are relationship-based and symbolic, not tied to any banquet plate cost. This is also distinct from the pin jin or dowry, which is negotiated between families before the wedding.
Get the number right, then get the small things right. Use crisp, uncreased notes where you can, and write your name clearly on the envelope so the couple can match the gift to the guest list later. Most weddings have a reception table where you hand over the ang bao and sign the guestbook on arrival.
On the figure itself, lean on auspicious endings. Numbers ending in 8 signal prosperity, even numbers signal harmony as a pair, and 4 is avoided. So S$88, S$168, S$188, S$268 and S$388 are common landing points. Avoid amounts with a 4 in a prominent place, such as S$140 or S$240; nudge to S$148 or S$248 instead.
Cash in a red packet is the default and the safest choice. PayNow or bank transfer is increasingly accepted, especially if the couple shares a QR code, but check first, and still bring a physical envelope if the wedding is traditional. The point of the custom is the gesture and the offset to the couple's costs, not the payment rail.
If you are the one hosting, ang bao is real money that reduces your out-of-pocket cost, but it is never guaranteed and it lands late. Banquet prices are quoted as ++, meaning before a 10 percent service charge and 9 percent GST, so a S$2,000 table is about S$2,398 nett once both are applied. The GST rate has been 9 percent since 1 January 2024.
Work an example. A mid-tier hotel dinner at S$1,800++ per table is about S$2,158 nett, so 20 tables for 200 guests cost roughly S$43,000 nett on the banquet alone. If guests average S$200 each, that is S$40,000 of ang bao, covering most of the food. Your net banquet cost drops sharply, but you still pay the venue in full before a single red packet arrives, so budget for the gross, not the net.
Two honest caveats. Attendance is rarely 100 percent, and ang bao varies widely by guest, so do not bank on a precise offset. For the full cost breakdown beyond the banquet, including ROM fees, photography and how much to set aside, see our cost of a wedding in Singapore guide, and use a personal budget calculator to set a monthly savings figure once you know your date and gross total.
Give at least enough to cover your seat at the banquet, plus a little more as a blessing. In 2026 that is roughly S$50 to S$150 at a void-deck or community-club do, S$120 to S$200 at a restaurant or country club, S$180 to S$280 at a four-star hotel, and S$280 to S$450 or more at a five-star or iconic venue. Go higher for closer relationships and weekend dinners.
Budget about S$280 to S$400 per guest as a friend or colleague at a five-star ballroom in 2026, since the plate cost is S$220 to S$350-plus. Marina Bay Sands benchmarks around S$290 for weekday lunch and S$350 for weekend dinner; close friends and relatives give more. Iconic venues like Capella or Raffles Sentosa run S$350 to S$450 and up.
Yes. Your ang bao covers each seat used, so double the per-guest figure when you bring a partner or guest. If you would give S$200 alone at a four-star dinner, give around S$400 for the two of you. The same applies to children who take a seat and a meal.
Give a smaller blessing since no seat is used. For an acquaintance, S$20 to S$80 is fine; for a closer friend, S$80 to S$200 depending on closeness. Send it before or shortly after the wedding.
Venues charge a premium for Saturday dinner because it is the most-wanted slot, so the table price and therefore the ang bao are highest then. Weekday and Sunday lunch slots cost the couple S$20 to over S$100 less per head, so guests at those slots give correspondingly less. Match the slot you attend, not the venue's top rate.
Yes. Amounts ending in 8, such as S$88, S$168 or S$288, are considered auspicious, and even numbers are preferred. Avoid the number 4, including amounts like S$140 or S$240, because 4 sounds like the word for death; nudge to S$148 or S$248 instead.
Increasingly yes, especially if the couple shares a PayNow QR code at the reception. Confirm with them first, and for a traditional wedding still bring a physical red packet. Cash in an envelope remains the safe default across all venues.
No. The custom is to cover your seat at the banquet plus a little extra, not the couple's entire wedding. Items like photography, attire, rings and the honeymoon are the couple's own spend. From the couple's side, ang bao usually offsets most of the banquet food cost but is never guaranteed.
Give the venue and slot baseline plus a modest top-up, the way you would for a friend, so it reads as respectful without looking like you are angling for favour. Use the venue tier table to find the baseline, then add S$50 to S$100. If a whole team is invited, a shared group ang bao split evenly is fine, as long as the per-head total still covers each attending seat.
Less than for a sit-down banquet, because the couple pays less per head. Casual buffet or cocktail receptions usually warrant around S$80 to S$120 a guest, and very informal bar or garden affairs S$50 to S$80. The cover-your-plate rule still applies; the plate is simply cheaper than a 10-course Chinese dinner.
A token blessing or a thoughtful gift rather than a full banquet rate, since no banquet seat is being used. Around S$50 to S$80 is a common token for a solemnisation or ROM you attend without a hosted meal. If you also attend the banquet, give the banquet-rate ang bao for that meal instead, and only once for the same wedding.
Take the venue's 2026 banquet package price per table of 10 and divide by 10 for the raw per-seat cost. Add 10 percent service charge then 9 percent GST to get the true nett seat cost, since prices are quoted as ++. That nett figure is your baseline as a casual guest; round up to an auspicious ending and add more for a closer relationship.
This is general financial information for Singapore, not personal financial advice. Figures change — verify current rates against the official sources above before acting. See our full disclaimer.